Drinks and Confessions
by Denaliyasha
Summary: Some things in life shouldn't cause regret... and never things that we didn't do. HC fluff written on a plane. Enjoy.


Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Sorry to disappoint.

A/N: Peter is an idiot. And deserved to be grazed with a bullet for what he did... sorry, that was just my rant. Hope you enjoy the way this fanfiction turned out, in my opinion of the way the episode should have ended. For the sake of my fanfic, Marisol is gone (it'll be explained). Oh, and just so you know... I'm actually on an airplane right now, using my mom's laptop. Flying is fun... but BORING. Although, the way we're going, we get to chase the sunset. It's beautiful. Hee, one last thing. In the airport about an hour ago, they called for a John Hagen to make his way to the counter. Not my flight, unfortunately, or I would have tried to see what he looked like.

**Drinks and Confessions**

"You two!" Calleigh's annoyed voice stopped Ryan and Eric in their tracks, and they turned slowly to face her. She had her hands planted on her hips, and she did not look happy.

"Yes?"

"It was rude, not to mention unprofessional to play games with Peter just because he is a federal agent. This case was rather time sensitive. Your joking could have caused major delays."

Afraid Ryan would make matters worse, Eric jumped in. "Come on, Calleigh. We were just having fun with him cause he's so obviously stuck on you."

She pressed the fingers of one hand to her temple. "He's engaged, guys, so be nice next time you see him."

Both men frowned. "Engaged?"

"Weren't you guys going to get drinks or dinner, though?" Two eyebrows went up as both Calleigh and Eric turned to stare at Ryan. He looked uncomfortable under their scrutiny. "One of the lab techs told me."

Calleigh rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just play nice with the feds, ok?"

"Alright. We... Hey, H."

Calleigh spun slowly on her heel to see Horatio leaning against the doorframe, sunglasses dangling from one hand. He was radiating… something, she wasn't sure what. Power, maybe? Whatever it was, it was appealing.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No, I was just explaining something to the boys." She smiled at him, but it felt slightly brittle and she dropped it quickly so that he wouldn't notice.

"Can I have a word with you?" His tone was all grave courtesy.

"Sure."

He stepped back to let her exit the room first. Calleigh was acutely aware of the heat of his body as she moved past him, as far on the other side of the door as she could be. He joined her, and they walked in silence for a moment down the glass lined corridor of the lab.

"How is Peter?"

She turned to him in surprise. "He's fine. His fiancé picked him up from the hospital."

"Fiancé?" His eyebrows drew together. "I didn't know he was engaged."

"Neither did I." Her voice was light. "He was going to take me out for drinks to tell me about it."

They walked a little while longer in silence.

"How's Marisol?" Calleigh was rather proud that her voice didn't break over the name.

"She'd fine." Horatio stopped moving and stared unseeingly out of a window into a sky painted red by the setting sun. "She decided to go back to school, earn a degree, travel some."

"Really?" She came to stand next to him. "Where?"

"She's getting a degree in genetics from McGill University, in Montreal." His tone indicated that he was well aware of the irony of having his girlfriend leave him to study a subject he dealt with every day.

"Canada? So far away?" She couldn't understand how anyone would want to put more than 1000 miles between them and such a wonderful man, especially if they were lucky enough to have captured his heart. It was certainly the only thing that kept her from packing up and going home sometimes.

"She needed a new place, somewhere where she could feel like cancer wasn't taking over her life." He shrugged slightly, the first sign she'd had that it was bothering him to be out of this relationship… or maybe…

"Are you still in touch?" Calleigh cursed herself. What was she, a masochist?

"Yes." Horatio abruptly changed the subject. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She frowned slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been different lately." He just kept staring out the window, as though he was talking to himself.

"I'm fine," she repeated. "Thanks for worrying, Handsome." She mentally kicked herself for slipping back into her familiar nickname for him. She'd forced herself to kick the habit when she'd decided that she had to get over him, not that he'd noticed.

"The one thing there isn't room for in this world is regret."

"What?" It had just been so random, Calleigh had no idea how to take Horatio's statement.

"Why should any of us regret anything?" He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised as though he expected an answer to his rhetorical question.

She pondered that for a moment. "You're right. There's no point." Throwing caution (and possibly her job) to the winds, she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him. When he didn't fight her off, she poured years of frustration and attraction into it, wanting to make this one moment last forever, since it was all she'd probably ever get.

When she pulled back, he was staring down at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. Calleigh refused to be embarrassed by what she'd just done, but it was hard when he was staring at her as though she were a particularly interesting blood-spatter pattern or some sort of suspect he couldn't figure out.

"Calleigh…" His voice was as cool and as calm as always, which irritated her.

"Yes?"

"I'm not going to insult your intelligence or mine by asking why you did that."

She arched a brow. "Thank you… I think. It's always nice to…" And then her words were cut off by his mouth on hers. This kiss lasted longer, and they were both a bit breathless when it was done.

"Well, that was slightly unexpected."

She could only nod in agreement.

"Since your dinner date ducked out on you, I'd be honored to take his place."

"Thanks, Handsome, but it was just drinks." She didn't know what else to say.

He gave an amused smile. "Well, then, drinks." He put a hand on the small of her back and led her out into the fading Miami sun.


End file.
